West of Scotland face a tough opening day fixture

West of Scotland RFC face a baptism of fire as they gear-up for the start of the new season with a tough encounter against Marr at Troon.

It’s a game that manager Ewan Smith said will be even more challenging because a number of players are out, due to either pre-season friendly game injuries, players not fully recovered from knocks sustained last season or players unavailable because of work commitments.

Smith said: “It’s going to be a hard game. We have an injury list which is very long.Marr got promoted undeafeted last season - the only team to achieve this and scored at least four tries in every game.

“This game and next week’s home game against Cartha are probably two of the toughest teams we will play this season.”

In their last pre-season friendly against East Kilbride West won 38-27.

Smith continued: “I am looking to consolidate West’s position in the Championship A league this year. We finished 8th last year and anything above that will be a bonus.

The average age of the team is around the early 20s with only one aged 30 - something Smith is well aware of.

He said: “It’s a very very young team. We have the enthusiasm, but are lacking in depth of experience.